Entertainment

Lou Reed’s fans get a fright

There are times when a seemingly-odd musical pairing — Rick Rubin & Johnny Cash, Run-D.M.C. & Aerosmith — winds up working far better than anyone could have imagined. “Lulu,” the concept album from Lou Reed & Metallica about a 19th-century prostitute who is degraded and abused throughout her life, then murdered by Jack the Ripper, doesn’t quite capture that lightning in a bottle.

In fact, “Lulu,” which features a worn and warbling Reed ranting over Metallica’s wall of distorted aggression, faces the same derision that met Reed’s 1975 album, “Metal Machine Music,” a collection of droning, scraping guitar static that is universally regarded as one of the worst albums in rock history.

The Chicago Sun-Times called “Lulu,” in stores Tuesday, “repellent,” saying that listening to it was “never anything more than a dismal, grueling chore.” Chuck Klosterman, writing for Grantland, said that “Lulu” was “not really designed for people who like music.”

Critics frequently scoff at experimental pop records. What really matters is the fans. But in this case, they hate the record, too.

“There’s great confusion, great disappointment, and frustration as to why Metallica would do this,” says Eddie Trunk, host of VH1’s “That Metal Show.” Reed’s fans aren’t much happier, posting overwhelmingly negative comments on his Facebook fan page including, “Lou, it’s not too late to change the title to PooPoo, because this record is crap.”

Reed, of course, has always taken huge risks in his career. But even fans have their limit.

“I’m not sure ‘Lulu’ is the kind of album you like or don’t like. I think Lou’s fans are used to dealing with the odd metric of ‘interesting,’ ” says Matt Carmichael, who founded the Internet’s first-ever Lou Reed fan site at rocknroll.net back in 1994. “By that definition, this is a very, very interesting record.”